ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
One Nation One Ration Card  mission gathers steam
Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution  asks the States to further push Aadhaar seeding of all beneficiaries, the Installation of electronic Point of Sale  devices, Biometric authentication of PDS transactions and Portability transactions
Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution reviews ‘One Nation One Ration Card Scheme’
Secretary DFPD urges States/UTs to submit their proposal towards additional borrowing under ONORC
In pursuance of the recent Speech in Budget of 2021 regarding the implementation of One Nation One Ration Card  plan in 32 States/UTs by the Union Finance Minister, The Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution today convened a meeting with States/UTs through video conferencing and reviewed the progress of the same.
In the meeting, Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution asked the States to deepen the progress about Installation of electronic Point of Sale  devices, Aadhaar seeding of all beneficiaries, Biometric authentication of PDS transactions and Portability transactions  .
The Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution also reviewed the progress of on ground implementation , awareness plans cum communication strategies of States/UTs and the status of their proposals to claim the additional borrowing of 0.25% of GSDP against this State specific reform i.e. implementation of One Nation One Ration Card plan.
Secretary  requested all concerned States/UTs to submit their requisite proposal towards additional borrowing under ONORC to this Department by 15th February 2021.
ONORC is an ambitious plan and endeavour of the D/o Food & Public Distribution, Government of India to introduce the nation-wide portability of ration cards under the National Food Security Act, 2013 . This aims to empower all migrant beneficiaries to seamlessly access their NFSA foodgrains/benefits anywhere in the country. Presently, this system is seamlessly enabled in 32 States/UTs, covering about 69 Crore beneficiaries  in these States/UTs.
Ministry of Corporate Affairs
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India amends the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India  Regulations, 2017
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India notified the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India   Regulations, 2022  on 05th April, 2022.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 read with Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India  Regulations, 2017 provide mechanism for voluntary liquidation of solvent corporate person. It has been noticed that there has been substantial delay in completion of voluntary liquidation process, though the process, in general, involve nil or negligible claims of creditors, fewer assets, if any, to be realized and few litigations, if any, to be concluded. To curtail such delay and ensure faster exit for firms, the Amendment Regulations modify timelines for some stipulated activities undertaken during the process as under:
- The liquidator shall prepare the list of stakeholders within fifteen days  from the last date for receipt of claims, where no claim from creditors has been received till the last date for receipt of claims.
- The liquidator shall distribute the proceeds from realization within thirty days  from the receipt of the amount to the stakeholders.
- It has been further provided that the liquidator shall endeavour to complete the liquidation process of the corporate person within two hundred and seventy days from the liquidation commencement date, where the creditors have approved the resolution under section 59 or regulation 3, and ninety days from the liquidation commencement date in all other cases .
To provide summary of actions taken by the liquidator during the voluntary liquidation process, the Amendment Regulations specify a compliance certificate which is required to be submitted along with application under section 59 to the Adjudicating Authority, by the liquidator. It shall facilitate the Adjudicating Authority to adjudicate dissolution applications expeditiously.
The Amendment Regulations are effective from 05th April, 2022. These are available at www.mca.gov.in and www.ibbi.gov.in.
Ministry of Finance
Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman chairs meeting on “Illegal Loan Apps”
Multiple steps outlined to prevent operations of such Illegal Loan Apps
Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman chaired a meeting yesterday to discuss the various issues related to “Illegal Loan Apps” outside the regular banking channels.
The meeting was attended by the Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance; Secretary, Economic Affairs; Secretary, Revenue, & Corporate Affairs ; Secretary, Financial Services; Secretary, Electronics & Information technology; Deputy Governor, RBI; and Executive Director, RBI.
The Finance Minister expressed concern on increasing instances of Illegal Loan Apps offering loans/micro credits, especially to vulnerable & low-income group people at exorbitantly high interest rates and processing/hidden charges, and predatory recovery practices involving blackmailing, criminal intimidation etc. Smt. Sitharaman also noted the possibility of money laundering, tax evasions, breach/privacy of data, and misuse of unregulated payment aggregators, shell companies, defunct NBFCs etc. for perpetrating such actions.
After detailed deliberations on legal, procedural & technical aspects of the issue, it was decided in the meeting that:
- RBI will prepare a “Whitelist” of all the legal Apps and MeitY will ensure that only these “Whitelist” Apps are hosted on App Stores.
- RBI will monitor the ‘mule/rented’ accounts that may be used for money laundering and to review/cancel dormant NBFCs to avoid their misuse.
- RBI will ensure that registration of payment aggregators be completed within a timeframe and no un-registered payment aggregator be allowed to function after that.
- MCA will identify shell companies and de-register them to prevent their misuse.
- Steps should be taken to increase cyber awareness for customers, bank employees, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders.
- All Ministries/Agencies to take all possible actions to prevent operations of such Illegal Loan Apps.
The Ministry of Finance will monitor the actionable points for compliance on a regular basis.
NITI Aayog
First Meeting of National Council under POSHAN Abhiyaan to held tomorrow
First meeting of National Council on India's Nutrition Challenges under POSHAN Abhiyaan to be held tomorrow on April 18, 2018 at Vigyan Bhawan, Hall No. 3 at 10:30 AM onwards in New Delhi. It will see the participation of Shri Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman NITI Aayog, Dr V K Paul, Member  NITI Aayog, Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, apart from representatives of various ministries of the Central and State Governments.
The mandate of the National Council on India’s Nutritional Challenges is as under:
 Provide policy directions to address India’s nutritional challenges through coordinated inter-sectoral action.
 Coordinate and review convergence between Ministries.
 Review programmes for nutrition on a quarterly basis.
The Council will submit its report to the Prime Minister every 6 months.
The POSHAN Abhiyaan targets reduction in the level of under-nutrition and other related problems by ensuring convergence of various nutrition related schemes. It will monitor and review implementation of all such schemes and in this endeavour, the Abhiyaan seeks to utilize existing structural arrangements of line Ministries wherever available.
Ministry of Tourism
Union Minister Shri G. Kishan Reddy reviews the various tourism projects funded by the Government of India in Visakhapatnam today
We will work in mission mode to realise Vizag’s potential as a tourist destination: Shri G Kishan Reddy
We will develop the beautiful coastal city of Vizag not just as a world tourist destination but also as a centre of trade and commerce: Tourism Minister
Union Minister for Tourism, Culture and DoNER Shri G. Kishan Reddy reviewed the various tourism projects funded by the Government of India in Visakhapatnam today. Addressing the media at the airport, the Minister said, “Due to various factors such as COVID-19 and the cyclones in the past, the development of Vizag as a tourist destination could not take place. We will work in mission mode to realise Vizag’s potential as a tourist destination”
The Union Minister inspected Bavikonda Buddhist Complex on Rushikonda- Bheemli Beach Road. The project is being developed as a part of the Shalihundam- Thotlakonda- Bavikonda- Bojjanakonda- Amravati- Anupu Buddhist circuit and an amount of Rs. 26.17 crore has been released as a part of SWADESH 2.0 Tourism project. The Minister was accompanied by the Tourism Minister of Andhra Pradesh Shri Avanti Srinivas. Officials from the state government & India tourism also joined.
Shri G Kishan Reddy also held a review meeting of Visakhapatnam Port Trust, Cruise Terminal & Cruise Tourism, along with AP Tourism Minister Shri Avanthi Srinivas. The construction of cruise cum Coastal Cargo Terminal at Channel berth area in Outer Harbour of Visakhapatnam is being implemented at a cost of Rs. 77 crores with 50% of the funding being provided by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India through the Assistance to Central Agencies for Tourism Infrastructure Development scheme.
“We will develop the beautiful coastal city of Vizag not just as a world tourist destination but also as a centre of trade & commerce”, Shri G Kishan Reddy said. The Union Minister assured all stakeholders that the Government will revive the industry and support the development of the tourism infrastructure.
Along with the Andhra Pradesh State Tourism Minister, Shri Avanthi Srinivas, Shri G Kishan Reddy was also accompanied by Anakapalli MP Smt. B.V Satyavati, Andhra Pradesh state Tourism Corporation Chairperson & MD, District Collector and other state officials. The Port Chairman & Port officials, Tribal Museum Officials, India Tourism officials, ASI Officials of GoI and state Railway Officials also participated.
Ministry of Development of North-East Region
Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources Scheme
Projects were sanctioned State-wise under the Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources-State  Scheme till it was replaced by the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme  in 2017-18. In total, 1635 projects worth Rs.16233.78 crore were sanctioned for the North Eastern States, under NLCPR-State scheme, out of which 1219 projects with sanctioned amount of Rs.9726.59 crore have been completed by 31.1.2022, while for the remaining 416 ongoing projects; the implementation is at various stages. The State-wise details of projects sanctioned under NLCPR-State scheme are as under:
|
|

|
|
S.
No.
|
|
State
|
|
Sanctioned projects
|
|
Completed projects
|
|
Ongoing projects
|
|
Number of projects
|
|
Amount
|
|
Number of projects
|
|
Amount
|
|
Number of projects
|
|
1
|
|
Arunachal Pradesh
|
|
207
|
|
2484.01
|
|
141
|
|
1544.75
|
|
66
|
|
2
|
|
Assam
|
|
446
|
|
3875.97
|
|
260
|
|
1616.49
|
|
186
|
|
3
|
|
Manipur
|
|
177
|
|
1857.13
|
|
148
|
|
1078.44
|
|
29
|
|
4
|
|
Meghalaya
|
|
107
|
|
1533.96
|
|
69
|
|
709.34
|
|
38
|
|
5
|
|
Mizoram
|
|
159
|
|
1393.1
|
|
141
|
|
1126.49
|
|
18
|
|
6
|
|
Nagaland
|
|
170
|
|
1805.4
|
|
137
|
|
1322.1
|
|
33
|
|
7
|
|
Sikkim
|
|
247
|
|
1409.69
|
|
226
|
|
1123.50
|
|
21
|
|
8
|
|
Tripura
|
|
122
|
|
1874.52
|
|
97
|
|
1205.48
|
|
25
|
|
|
|
Total
|
|
1635
|
|
16233.78
|
|
1219
|
|
9726.59
|
|
416
Further, the expenditure under the NLCPR-State scheme is now being made for ongoing projects only to meet committed liabilities as per reported actual progress, without specific budgetary allocation of funds State-wise. During the last three years and in the current year upto 31.01.2022, the total releases made under the scheme by this Ministry are as under:

|
|
Financial Year
|
|
Funds Released

|
|
2018-19
|
|
450.21
|
|
2019-20
|
|
379.59
|
|
2020-21
|
|
197.28
|
|
2021-22
|
|
369.10

This information was given by Minister for Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region Shri.G.Kishan Reddy in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Labour & Employment
Atal beemit vyakti kalyan yojana
Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana  is a welfare measure for the employees covered under the Employees’ State Insurance  Act, 1948 in the form of cash compensation up to 90 days once in lifetime of the worker in the contingency of Insured Persons’  unemployment.
The scheme came into force on 01.07.2018 and extended twice from 01.07.2020 to 30.06.2021 and from 01.07.2021 to 30.06.2022 in order to provide relief to those IPs who became unemployed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The eligibility and other conditions of the scheme were relaxed w.e.f. 24.03.2020 as under:-
- The rate of relief under the scheme was enhanced from 25% of the average daily earnings to 50% of average daily earnings of the claimant.
- The IP should have been in insurable employment for a minimum 2 years and should have contributed for not less than 78 days in the contribution period immediately preceding the unemployment and minimum 78 days in one of the remaining three contribution periods in two years prior to unemployment. Earlier, minimum contribution of 78 days in each of four contribution periods was required.
- The waiting period to file the claim was reduced from 90 days to 30 days.
- Mandatory filing through employer and submission of affidavit by the claimant was dispensed with.
All the Insured Persons covered under ESI Act are entitled under the scheme and no separate registration is required.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Labour & Employment, Shri Rameswar Teli in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Major initiatives under National Leprosy Eradication Programme 
Convergence of leprosy screening under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram  for screening of children  and under Ayushman Bharat for screening of people above 30 years of age being initiated
As on 31st May 2022, a total of 72,914 leprosy patients are under treatment in the country, as per Monthly Progress Report of Central Leprosy Division, Directorate General of Health Services
The Government is implementing the National Leprosy Eradication Programme  with the goal of making India leprosy free. NLEP is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the umbrella of National Health Mission . This programme is implemented in all the States/UTs.
The major focus of the Programme is to detect the cases of leprosy at an early stage and to provide complete treatment, free of cost, in order to prevent the occurrence of disability.
Major initiatives under NLEP are as follows:
- Leprosy Case Detections Campaign  in high endemic districts.
- Focused Leprosy Campaign  in low endemic districts for case detection.
- Special plans for Hard-to-Reach areas for early case detection and treatment.
- ASHA Based Surveillance for Leprosy Suspects .
- Sparsh Leprosy Awareness Campaign on 30th January every year.
- Active Case Detection and Surveillance both in rural and urban areas.
- Convergence of leprosy screening under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram  for screening of children  and under Ayushman Bharat for screening of people above 30 years of age.
- Monitoring of the programme by Joint Monitoring Investigation and Advisory Group .
- Certificate, award and performance linked financial incentive are given to the districts for achieving leprosy elimination.
- Contact tracing is done and Post Exposure Prophylaxis  with Single dose of Rifampicin  given to the eligible contacts of index case in order to interrupt the chain of transmission.
Further, 12 packs of MDT  blister packs are given to Multi Bacillary Leprosy cases as per the Standard Treatment Protocol.
India has achieved the elimination of leprosy as a public health problem as per WHO criteria of less than 1 case per 10,000 population at the National level in 2005. However, there are few districts within States where leprosy is still endemic.
As per Monthly Progress Report of Central Leprosy Division, Directorate General of Health Services , 72,914 leprosy patients, as informed by the States/UTs, are under treatment in the country.
The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu & Gujarat witness an upsurge in Daily New Cases
Caution advised to States showing High Active Cases
Nearly 1.5 crore vaccine doses administered against COVID19
No new COVID19 Fatality reported in 19 States/UTs in the last 24 hours
India’s total Active Caseload stands at 1.68 lakh  today as the country added 12,286 new cases in the last 24 hours. The country’s present active caseload now consists of 1.51% of India’s total Positive Cases.
80.33% of the new cases are from 5 States.
Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 6,397. It is followed by Kerala with 1,938 while Punjab reported 633 new cases. Two states, Maharashtra and Kerala alone account for 67.84% of total active cases.
The Centre is continuously engaging with the States and UTs manifesting higher caseload of active cases and those reporting a rise in the daily new COVID cases. States/UTs have been advised to maintain a continued rigorous vigil for containing the spread of COVID-19. Need for effective testing, comprehensive tracking, prompt isolation of positive cases and quick quarantine of close contacts are strongly emphasized.
Eight states are displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases.
Five States cumulatively account for 84.16% of the total active cases in the country. Maharashtra alone accounts for 46.82% of India’s total active cases, followed by Kerala with 28.61%.
Six States/UTs have a weekly Positivity Rate higher than the national average of 2.00%. Maharashtra leads all the states with a weekly positivity rate of 10.02%.
A total of 1,48,54,136 vaccine doses have been administered as per the provisional report till 7 am today. These include 67,04,613 Healthcare workers s who got 1st dose, 25,97,799 HCWs  and 53,44,453 Frontline workers s who got 1st dose, 24,279 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities  and 1,82,992 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years.
The 2nd dose of COVID19 vaccination started on 13th February, 2021 for those beneficiaries who have completed 28 days after receipt of the 1st dose. Vaccination of the Frontline Workers  started on 2nd Feb 2021.
More than 1.07 Cr  people has recovered so far. 12,464 patients have recovered and got discharged in the last 24 hours. India’s Recovery Rate at 97.07% continues to be amongst the highest in the world.
86.55% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 6 States.
Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of single day recoveries with 5,754 newly recovered cases. 3,475 people recovered in Kerala in the past 24 hours followed by 482 in Tamil Nadu.
91 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.
Six States account for 85.71% of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties . Punjab follows with 18 daily deaths. Kerala reported13 deaths.
Nineteen States/UTs have not reported any COVID19 deaths in the last 24 hours. These are West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Lakshadweep, Ladakh , Sikkim, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, A&N Islands, D&D & D&N and Arunachal Pradesh.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
MMTC Revenue from exports increased by 384%
Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India  declared its financial results for the half year ended on 30th September, 2019.The company has achieved revenue from operations of Rs.13176crore as against the revenue from operations of Rs.12511 crore during the corresponding period last year registering a growth of 5% over the same period last year.
MMTC has posted a net profit of Rs 43.28 crore during the period as compared to the net profit of Rs.41.62 crore during the same period last year registering anincrease of 4% over the same period last year.
Revenue from exports increased by 384% to Rs 862 crore as compared to Rs 178 crore during the corresponding period last year.
Revenue from imports increased by 25% to Rs 10756 crore as compared to Rs 8619 crore during the corresponding period last year.
Other income increased by 105% to Rs.21 crore as compared to Rs.10 crore during the corresponding period last year.
These achievements have been made inspite of adverse global market scenario and by overall reduction in overheads and other costs.
Ministry of Defence
Indian Army Demonstrates Drone Swarms During Army Day Parade
The Indian Army carried out a live demonstration of Drone Swarming capability using 75 indigenously designed and developed drones which executed an array of Artificial Intelligence  enabled simulated offensive missions and close support tasks during the Army Day Parade held at Delhi Cantt on 15 January 2021.
This demonstration is a recognition of the Indian Army's steady embrace of emerging and disruptive technologies to transform itself from a manpower intensive to a technology enabled force to meet future security challenges. The Indian Army is investing heavily into Artificial Intelligence , Autonomous Weapon Systems, Quantum Technologies, Robotics, Cloud Computing and Algorithm Warfare in order to achieve a convergence between the Army's warfighting philosophies and military attributes of these technologies.
The Indian Army has undertaken a wide array of technology initiatives in coordination with Dreamers, Startups, MSMEs, Private Sector, Academia, Defence Research and Development Organisation  and Defence Public Sector Undertakings . One such project is the Artificial Intelligence  Offensive Drone Operations which has been incubated with an Indian Start Up. This project symbolises the beginning of the Indian Army's tryst with autonomy in weapon platforms and showcases the Army's commitment towards merging the cutting edge of digital technologies with its human resource.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
MoU signed between J&K and Government of Dubai for Real Estate development, industrial parks, super specialty hospitals
MoU will help give UT a big developmental push: Piyush Goyal
Jammu and Kashmir administration today signed a Memorandum of Understanding  with the Government of Dubai for real estate development, industrial parks, IT towers, multipurpose towers, logistics, medical college, super specialty hospital and more.
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry ShriPiyushGoyalhighlighted the significance of the day and said that with the signing of the MoU with Dubai Government, the world has started to recognize the pace with which Jammu and Kashmir is traversing on the development bandwagon. This MoU gives out a strong signal to the entire world that the way India is transforming into a global power, Jammu & Kashmir is having a significant role into that as well.
This MoU is a milestone after which the investment will pour in from entire globe and is a big developmental push. Different entities from Dubai have shown keen interest in investment. Development has to be aspired on all fronts and we are on track, he added.
ShriGoyalthanked Prime Minister ShriNarendraModi and Home Minister ShriAmit Shah for their focus and commitment towards the development of UT of Jammu & Kashmir. Recent industrial package of 28,400 Crore rupees is a testimony towards ensured development.
Terming it a momentous occasion for the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor ShriManojSinha said that this development journey will help the Union Territory to scale new heights in Industrialization and sustainable growth.